INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP AND FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY OF LISTED FINANCIAL SERVICE FIRMS IN NIGERIA: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF AUDIT FIRM TENURE

Abstract

The issues of ownership, audit tenure and Financial Reporting Quality
(FRQ) have received more consideration in recent time from
professionals, academics and other interested parties, given persistent
events loss of investment, loss of jobs, and low confidence on corporate
financial reporting that may threaten a firm going concern. The study
using secondary data from 23 sampled financial service firms out of
the 52 listed on the Nigeria Exchange between 2006 – 2021, examines
the effect of institutional ownership on FRQ; the moderating role of
audit firm tenure. Using panel data, the Ordinary Least Square (OLS)
regression showed audit firm tenure do not have a moderating effect
on the relationship between institutional ownership and FRQ. Thus,
the study concludes that institutional ownership negatively influence
FRQ of financial service firms in Nigeria. The study suggests that
financial service firms can increase FRQ through other supervisory
and monitoring ways other than increasing institutional ownership
and constant external audit firm change.